By Kieron Gillen on November 19th, 2009 at 12:52 am.
Oooh, interestinkosity. Let’s go with Destructoid breaking the story. Those who have played Left 4 Dead’s Dark Carnival level (i.e. Everyone but me, as I’ve been Modern Warfare-ing, a week behind the zeitgeist) will have been enamored with its stage-based conclusion. Well, the band who owns the stage in question – The Midnight Riders – have a website. And apparently – from the mouth of hive-mind out-brain Phill Cameron – there’s an achievement for completing all six campaigns. But there’s only five shipped with the game. Is there maths to be done? If so, do the maths. Since there’s no footage currently available of whatever this is – and, Crikey, can you imagine the cry from the forums if it’s paid-for-DLC – here’s the video to Smart Dressed Man by ZZ Top…
The best thing about Sharp Dressed Man is actually what ZZ Top consider being a sharp dressed man. Opening lyric: “Clean Shirt”. Woah. A clean shirt, you say? You ladies man, you. I’m surprised it doesn’t continue “Clean Shirt. Don’t stink of piss. Girlies are gonna be loving this”.
That said, that sounds a lot like my 20s.
Intriguing.
Most intriguing.
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wtf are you talking about?
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lol I was wondering if I was the only one who couldn’t make heads or tails of Kieron’s write up.
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A soon to be announced DLC?
I really do have a sneaky suspicion that L4D2 will be getting similar post-release attention as TF2, as promised for the original game. Perhaps not to the same extent, but I would not be surprised by multiple campaigns being released (perhaps in similar fashion to Crash Course, rather than the larger ones that have come with L4D and the sequel.)
Having said that, I wasn’t expecting word of it this soon.
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Boring answer: The steamcommunity.com website lists the Still Something To Prove achievement as requiring 6 campaigns completed on Expert. In-game the achievement only mentions 5 campaigns. Most likely it’s an error on the site.
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/7199/achieves.jpg
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Noticed that achievement last night http://i50.tinypic.com/1wvpw.jpg
In-game it will only say 5, on your stats page it says 6. Either a bug, or Valve trolling at work again.
I hope it’s the latter, and the 6th campaign involved The Midnight Riders
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DLC? More like an expansion pa-oh.
Oh.
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What grounds would there be outcry if it was paid DLC? I’m not aware of any promises having been made for free support regarding L4D ‘09, nor is there any reason (based on the track record of the franchise) to expect anything above and beyond what’s been (or hasn’t been, in this case) promised. To put it another way: why would anyone be surprised at anything Valve does with this franchise, at this point?
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Possible to imagine completionists being infuriated by achievements for a game they bought not being possible until they buy yet more game.
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You could say the same about Valve offering roughly twice as much content as the original L4D for the same price, and not delay it for 3 years.
Why would anyone get upset over that?
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The Midnight Riders will be an unlockable 4 character group which can be played as instead of the standard set of L4D2 characters.
I CALLED IT.
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Nah, it’ll be that campaign only.
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The second guy in the image looks a lot like Francis…
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Yup, and even a lot more like the original Francis skin:
http://media.photobucket.com/image/left%204%20dead%20biker/left4dead411/wallpapers/witch-francis-1680.jpg
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Well, if you right click on L4D2 in the steam list and go to properties, you will see a tab for DLC. Just a matter of time.
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Hey, y’all stole my avatar!
Yeah, I imagine there is going to be a fair amount of DLC this time around. Whether it turns out to be free or paid remains to be seen.
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Man, I wish I had ZZ Top magically appearing near me at discos like some sort of trio of hairy fairy godmothers.
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Oh that happens to me all the time; might be down to the Schizophrenia though….
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A quick whois on midnight-riders.com confirms it’s from valve:
Registrant:
Valve Corporation
ATTN: MIDNIGHT-RIDERS.COM
c/o Network Solutions
P.O. Box 459
Drums, PA. 18222
Domain Name: MIDNIGHT-RIDERS.COM
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What a great big surprise…
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I spotted the foursome rockers in the pic, and just instantly wanted to play the game with those 4 dudes instead of the original cast lol
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My guess is it will be a reverse trip through part of Dark Carnival, or hopefully some new sections of the carnival. I’m betting on something shorter like Crash Course, but would be pleased with a full-blown campaign.
On the achievement thing — the achievement for killing each of the uncommon infected is also inconsistent between game and community page. The latter lists six, which adds to the theory that there is more to come. According to this thread, the 6th will be called “Fallen Survivor”: http://www.wegame.com/forums/Left-4-Dead/SPOILERS-6th-Uncommon-Infected-revealed-PIC/
Interesting….
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My dream: the Midnight Riders, evacced to the north, star in the next L4D1 DLC. Boycotters choke to death on their own rage.
Unlikely, but a boy can dream.
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Why would boycotters be anything other than pleased with new content? It’s precisely the lack of new content that has them angry in the first place. I don’t think there will be any substantive updates for L4D ’08 now that L4D ’09 is out, but I’d be happy if I was wrong.
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I’m glad you have such bitter, and unjustifable hatred for l4d2, Vinrath. The community is served far more by the self-entilted leaving rather sticking around to whine at everyone elses good time.
That said I find it hilarious that l4d2 haters still claim its a sub-standard ‘should be dlc’ product when it’s content far outstrips that of the orginal.
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I’m just going to really hope Moop’s irony here is intentional.
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@Moop
If you consider the changes made to Team Fortress 2 over the years, you will find it now has roughly as much “new content” as L4D2 does compared to L4D1 (A lot more maps, entire new weapon loadouts, massive balance, interface and playability improvements etc), so THAT argument is quite weak.
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@sana
I’m almost positive he’s joking. I mean, look at the post he’s responding to.
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I don’t like that argument. I liked TF2 at release, hate what it’s become. I wish they’d just thrown all the new junk into a TF3 and allowed me to continue playing what I originally bought.
I’m not sure it’s entirely ethical for them to change the core mechanics of the game ’til it no longer closely represents the product I purchased: surely I’ve been robbed of the game I paid for?
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When Crash Course came out, the boycotters didn’t seem happy. To the contrary – they called Valve liars for saying that it’d been planned and under works for long before the boycott, whined about the length, and generally behaved like ingracious AIMs. For instance: this. (And a lot of the rest of that thread, naturally, and others across the webs.) Since L4D2 came out – “L4D ’09″, heh, that’s actually pretty good – the argument has been that L4D1 will get no more new content, ever again, no matter what Valve says. Thought it would be rational for them to be happy about getting a new campaign, I have a hard time seeing them behaving so rationally.
Though, you know, generalizations across large groups, predictions of reactions to future hypotheticals, etc, etc… Still. When the announcement of the next L4D1 DLC comes out (my suspicion is that it’ll be something shared by the two games?), I doubt the boycotters will be happy.
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“When the announcement of the next L4D1 DLC comes out (my suspicion is that it’ll be something shared by the two games?), I doubt the boycotters will be happy.”
I can only speak for myself, but I’ll be too busy being stunned to be angry.
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A minor SPOILER, but:
The wall writing on the finale level of Dark Carinval says the Riders were already airlifted out. If the DLC campaign is the Riders’, it’s either them fighting to get to the chopper – maybe a short two-level campaign like Crash Course – or their chopper also crashing.
Personally I just want Valve patch in a Kabong achievement. That sounds like as good of a time as any.
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obo – there’s no reason that a DLC map can’t be set before the current campaigns. I mean, we have no idea how the timescales for L4D1 and 2 compare – but teh way the narrative works means there’s no need for each piece of content that comes out to be sequential.
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If this is true, that would be BRILLIANT. Been enjoying the hell out L4D2, this would be icing on the cake.
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Clean shirt? I am not a sharp dressed man.
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Does this comment system have swear filtering? If you could insta-delete all comments containing the word ‘boycott’, RPS would be a safer place.
(I do understand the urge to respond when something inflammatory and/or blatantly silly is written, but guys, fight it! There’s no more useful discussion to be had, and it’ll be better for everyone if those who insist on bringing it up are ignored.)
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You are, as I’ve frequently found you to be, quite right MD. I’ve certainly got no interest in discussing the matter further, but I can’t seem to stop myself from condemning one side’s fairly vicious mischaracterization of the other. It’s not even about the game anymore, it’s about one side trying to paint a nasty picture of the other, and we probably would be better off if the whole issue were simply deleted when it came up at this point.
Anyway, you’re entirely right that the trolling is best ignored. My apologies for taking the bait so frequently here of late.
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Generally I agree, Vin, but I think at this point it’s just as bad from both sides on some threads (didn’t read all of this one, so maybe not here). Really, I’ve pretty much resigned myself to the fact that any Valve-related comment thread on this site is going to be so overrun by crazies of one type or another that there’s no point even reading it other than to LOL at the train wreck. For the reader who actually gives half a damn (regardless of their particular opnion on the topic) and isn’t just trolling or posturing, this toxic bullshit is about the last thing you need to read.
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I didn’t mean to imply both sides weren’t feeding the problem. It’s not hard to spot the irrational ones on both sides of this, and both sides have their fair share of them. I do think, however, that for the irrational boycotters it’s more a hatred of the game and Valve (and secondarily about Valve’s defenders), whereas for the irrational anti-boycotters it’s a hatred of boycotters (and those perceived to be boycotters, which seems to be anyone that doesn’t share their enthusiasm for these games). That’s how it looks from my admittedly biased perspective, anyway. I’ve not seen many boycotters instigate personal attacks against anti-boycotters, they’re usually too busy screaming about Valve ripping them off. Maybe they’re actually doing both and I’ve just missed it. Regardless, you’re right that it’s best to keep one’s nose out of the whole mess.
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I’ve been called a blind “fanboi” sheep quite a few times.
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@Psychopomp
Fair enough, I hadn’t seen that.
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I am a blind fanboy sheep! Give me more L4D, MORE I tell you! BAAAAA!
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Out of interest, did anyone check what the L4D2 boycott groups were playing on release day like they did to the Modern Warfar 2 boycott group?
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I always prefered the bowdlerising engines that some forums have, that automagically alters swears. I know one that **** out the word ‘Christmas’.
Perhaps automatically change the word ‘boycott’ to ‘enjoy’
“When L4D2 comes out I’m going to enjoy it”
hmm, now it sounds a bit dirty, perhaps it should be changed to ‘pleasure’ instead.
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Oh God I hope it’s paid for DLC.
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…the fuck?
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Ohh good lordy, I think I’ve just messed.
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I will only play it if there’s a gnome involved again.
http://snipurl.com/tav8h
http://snipurl.com/tav98
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Sounds suspiciously like Wild Zero… :D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_zero
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Well, l4d2 does have a guitar weapon…
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The reason I like L4D2 so much – okay, why I like the idea of L4D2 so much, since I can’t afford it just at the mo – is that it brings the game that much closer to the wild, incomprehensible beauty and power of that gem of a film.
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SPOILER WARNING!
The Witch is actually a man.
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From left to right:
John 2032: After his debut game writing success in the Broken Sword DS diaries, John became a legendary Silicon Valley games writer. He became “the one wearing a red shirt”.
Jim 2032: Jim’s next book “This Meta-Gaming Life” became an international best seller. Dizzying success and actually having money sent Jim on a whirlwind adventure of tattoos and pendants. He became “the one with tattoos and pendants”.
Alec 2032: After Tall Nut’s murder, Alec vowed to protect those he cared about the most; Lord Ragington IV and Shale. He hit the gym and became “the one with the muscles”.
Kieron 2032: Now comes complete with Deus Ex specs and uber ‘stache (no, it’s not a beard).
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Come on Eileen?
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@Springy:
What one earth are you on about? TF2 mechanics changed? It’s still the same game it was 2 years ago! All the additions Valve’s made to the game have not changed the core gameplay or even touched the original game mechanics.
Extra modes? Extra maps? Extra weapons and items? And even more coming and all for free?? Yeah, you’ve definitely been robbed there for sure, mate!
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ZZ Top, bloody awesome. Eliminator is a phenomenal album.
Awesomeosity compounded by appearing in Back To The Future Part III.
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Ah hah! Some in-game advertising for L4D3? (Just kidding, sort of!). This looks awesome. I’m enjoying L4D2 thoroughly and hope those four will be playable in whatever DLC is to come.
Also, I can’t hear this song without thinking about spending a few buckazoids on a rather high stakes slot machine on Kerona.
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Please stop linking to Jim Sterling.
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Brutal Legend PC – exclusive to Steam.
Come on!
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KIERON. YES.
ZZ Top + Zombie Killin’ = excellent fucking combo, man.
Again; yes.
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DLC (paid or not, as I don’t expect hard work for completely free) would be heavenly. That’s just my two cents.
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I call first on the tattooed hairy white guy!
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More stuff up at that link now!
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Why do you even try to engage the boycotters in any kind of intelligent, rational fashion? Let them rage alone and undisturbed.
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